2021 Daily Devotion - Day 318

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Many years ago, Torild and I were vacationing and stayed in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor Hotel, and I will always remember having dinner in one of the restaurants. The reason I still remember is because I ordered their coconut shrimp, which was out of this world. It was a dinner I will never forget. So a couple of years later, we were again in Las Vegas with some friends, and I suggested we go over to the Luxor Hotel for their coconut shrimp. We drove over and went to the same restaurant, and when I looked at the menu, I saw they no longer offered the coconut shrimp. So I asked the waiter what had happened to the shrimp, and he said they had a new chef and took it off the menu. I asked what happened to the chef who cooked the coconut shrimp, and he told me the chef had moved over to another hotel and gave us the name. I looked at everyone and suggested we leave and go over to the other hotel to find the coconut shrimp chef. And we did.

We walked in, sat down and I asked about the chef. The waiter said he had moved on about a week before, and they also no longer offered the coconut shrimp, so I was forced to order something else. I have never found a restaurant with a chef like the one at the Luxor, and believe me, I have tried. In life, it just seems a great deal of the time you cannot relive the past.

I bring this up because it is so easy to always live in the past. People do it all of the time. They talk about the “good old days”. The problem with this is that when we live in the past, we can’t take full advantage of the present. We need to stop and look around in the present and realize God is doing something new in our lives – He always is. If we only live in the past, we can become burdened by the past mistakes we have made. By living in the past, we are remembering the opportunities we failed to take. However, since God is doing something new, even in these difficult times, we need to focus on today.

Isaiah 42:9 ESV
Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, this is the day You have made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Open our eyes to what You are doing today. Renew our spirits in the new work You are doing in our lives today and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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